Advice on a hunt.

Roger B

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Joined
Mar 27, 2006
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Location
Eastern Massachusetts
A co-worker is letting me hunt her property and I would like some advice. It is about one acre in western mass with a house built in 1900 and a foundation also 1900 with a dirt floor that is the result of a recent tear down.
Any advice on how to approach this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all.
 
Wow, sounds like a great place to hunt Roger! Besides the obvious "hunt it all", I would start off trying to locate former areas of heavy use, such as where an old outhouse would have been and the path leading to it from the main house. Clothesline areas, around the bases of big trees, and around fencelines, as caches have been found under posts of old fences. Are there any stone walls around the property? If so, hunt around these as well, keeping an eye out for old buried trash dumps that often produce nice antique bottles. I would also hunt the dirt floor - where better to bury an emergency stash, especially in days when people didn't trust banks.

I'm sure others will post great ideas as well, but that's where I would start.
 
Treasurekidd said:
Wow, sounds like a great place to hunt Roger! Besides the obvious "hunt it all", I would start off trying to locate former areas of heavy use, such as where an old outhouse would have been and the path leading to it from the main house. Clothesline areas, around the bases of big trees, and around fencelines, as caches have been found under posts of old fences. Are there any stone walls around the property? If so, hunt around these as well, keeping an eye out for old buried trash dumps that often produce nice antique bottles. I would also hunt the dirt floor - where better to bury an emergency stash, especially in days when people didn't trust banks.

I'm sure others will post great ideas as well, but that's where I would start.
Thanks Treasurekidd, I really appreciate the advice. I will put it to good use.
 
Roger, good luck on that hunt. Beside the places TK mentioned
you might want to circle around any large immovable landmarks
such as 10 and 20 ton boulders. Anything that the wind won't take away....Gil
 
Grid it off and get it done, that's my advice. Clean all the top stuff off and then work it again going for the deeper objects.
 
What kind of arrangements were you able to make with the coworker. Do you keep all you find? What if you find greatgrandmama's lost wedding ring?
 
Im hunting something similar tomorrow :wow: . Im MD'ing an old around mid 1800's house. It used to be an old stagecoach stop. So any info will help me out to. Thanks
 
Hello Roger, I'm also a newbie here! I too got permission to detect a site of around 5 acres. It's dated back to mid-1800's. Whatever you do, grid it carefully, use markers or pegs, rake the ground before you start to ensure you get the deeper targets. And take your time, you have weeks or months of great detecting ahead of you! All the best with this one!
HH Angela :grin:
 
Carol K said:
What kind of arrangements were you able to make with the coworker. Do you keep all you find? What if you find greatgrandmama's lost wedding ring?
I know she recently inherited the property but not much known about the history. We did not discuss any terms, I suppose we should.
Thanks for the advice.
 
Angela (Australia) said:
Hello Roger, I'm also a newbie here! I too got permission to detect a site of around 5 acres. It's dated back to mid-1800's. Whatever you do, grid it carefully, use markers or pegs, rake the ground before you start to ensure you get the deeper targets. And take your time, you have weeks or months of great detecting ahead of you! All the best with this one!
HH Angela :grin:
Thanks Angela, I will take all the advice I can get and put it to use. I just started detecting about a month ago and think I'm hooked. I am still waiting for my first old coin or silver coin.
This forum is great for advice.
HH
 
Gi'day Roger, I detected for months before finding my first coin in my town, but then again, the ground's not the easier to detect in. But when the coins came, it hasn't stopped. So patience is a virtue afterall!!!
HH Angela :grin:
 
Angela (Australia) said:
Hello Roger, I'm also a newbie here! I too got permission to detect a site of around 5 acres. It's dated back to mid-1800's. Whatever you do, grid it carefully, use markers or pegs, rake the ground before you start to ensure you get the deeper targets. And take your time, you have weeks or months of great detecting ahead of you! All the best with this one!
HH Angela :grin:
Angela
Thanks for the advice on the hunt, but can you tell me more about "Gridding" it out? What is that and how is it done?
Thanks again.
 
My advice is to get Angel to hunt with you. He is from your neck of the woods. You would learn an awful lot from hunting with someone with his experience.
angellionel

Jeff
 
Thanks for the kind compliment, Jeff. :)

I believe, though, that the advice given by others to grid the area is the way to go. This method does require patience and time however, especially given the size of the property. It shouldn't be an issue if the co-worker hasn't set a time frame and the location can be leisurely worked over a period of time. The tips for locating any buried cache, as suggested by TD and Gil, are ideal for such a site.

I wish you success, Roger! The site does sound like it could produce well for you. Have fun! :grin:

Angel
 
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